Tuatara Released

zooboy28

zooboy28

Well-Known Member
Not strictly ZooChat business, but 220 tuatara have been relocated from Stephens Islands to five new locations, four of which are pest-free mainland sanctuaries:

Whangaokeno Island off the East Coast
Cape Sanctuary in Hawke's Bay
Young Nicks Head Sanctuary near Gisborne
Maungatautari in Central Waikato.
Orokonui Ecosanctuary, near Dunedin

Full story here: Tuatara Flown to New Homes - national | Stuff.co.nz

At least two of these, Maungatautari and Orokonui are accessible to the general public, although entry is not free at Orokonui. Young Nicks and Whangaokeno are not open to the general public. I've been to Cape Sanctuary once, but I'm not sure if its still open access.

I've also been to Maungatautari quite a few times, and to be honest I'm quite surprised they released tuatara here, as it is potentially home to a remnant Duvaucel's gecko population, which could be genetically distinct and would probably make a decent tuatara meal.
 
The tuatara release sounds like great news. I wish that they would also release some into the LA Zoo. Who do we talk to about that?
 
DavidBrown said:
The tuatara release sounds like great news. I wish that they would also release some into the LA Zoo. Who do we talk to about that?
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It is good news in that it is restoring a extirpated species to their natural habitat, while also releasing some of the pressure on Stephens Island (not that removing 220 from 60,000 will reduce that pressure much!). It will also be a boost for the sanctuaries involved, especially those with commercial interests.

To get some for the LA Zoo, you could get the LA zoo to:

a) ask some of the US/European institutions succesfully breeding tuatara for some surplus stock;
b) make a sizeable "donation" to the relevant NZ government department (DoC) who would be more than happy to swap wildlife for money as part of their focus on "commercialising our natural resources"; or
c) rock up to one of the afore-mentioned sanctuaries with black cloth sacks, catch a few tuatara themselves, and smuggle them out of the country (or buy some from someone who has done that already).

:D
 
David Brown said:
I wish that they would also release some into the LA Zoo. Who do we talk to about that?
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Tuatara are even more boring than Koalas. You should try getting some large varanids for release - that would really increase the visitation to the zoo (until the first child disappears).

:p

Hix
 
zooboy28 said:
Not strictly ZooChat business, but 220 tuatara have been relocated from Stephens Islands to five new locations, four of which are pest-free mainland sanctuaries:

Whangaokeno Island off the East Coast
Cape Sanctuary in Hawke's Bay
Young Nicks Head Sanctuary near Gisborne
Maungatautari in Central Waikato.
Orokonui Ecosanctuary, near Dunedin

Full story here: Tuatara Flown to New Homes - national | Stuff.co.nz

At least two of these, Maungatautari and Orokonui are accessible to the general public, although entry is not free at Orokonui. Young Nicks and Whangaokeno are not open to the general public. I've been to Cape Sanctuary once, but I'm not sure if its still open access.

I've also been to Maungatautari quite a few times, and to be honest I'm quite surprised they released tuatara here, as it is potentially home to a remnant Duvaucel's gecko population, which could be genetically distinct and would probably make a decent tuatara meal.
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Do you reckon there has been an impact study on tuatara release in Maungagtautari given the presence of the rare geckoid there?
 
Duvaucel's geckoes are largely arboreal; tuatara are largely terrestrial. There's not a great degree of overlap in their living space.
 
Chlidonias said:
Duvaucel's geckoes are largely arboreal; tuatara are largely terrestrial. There's not a great degree of overlap in their living space.
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I didn't think Duvaucel's were totally arboreal, I thought they spent a fair bit of time on the ground too? I'm not totally sure though.

Also, the Duvaucel's at Maungatautari aren't definitely distinct, but they are supposed to be extinct on the mainland, and restricted to small offshore islands, but one dead individual was found in 2010. As far as I know, no genetic analysis has been done yet to confirm that the individual was an actual mainland remanant and not from an offshore island (there was speculation it had been kept privately and released).
 
zooboy28 said:
I didn't think Duvaucel's were totally arboreal, I thought they spent a fair bit of time on the ground too? I'm not totally sure though.
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you may be right. My understanding was that they were largely arboreal but I am known to be wrong from time to time.

I think the 2010 Maungatautari one is still the only one ever found there. Apparently it was sent away for some DNA tests after it was found (dead in a mouse trap if I remember right) so you'd think there would be ome answer by now. I'll have a search around later.
 
here we go: Great Barrier Island Charitable Trust Newsletter - Giant Gecko Rediscovered
Duvaucel’s gecko were once widespread on the New Zealand mainland, with subfossil or museum records indicating presence in Northland, Waikato, Hawke’s Bay, Wellington, Canterbury and even Otago. Distressingly, the species’ current range is now disjunct, with a 400 km straight line gap between the closest north-eastern island populations and the southern island populations on the opposite ends of the North Island. (NB, the Maungatautari gecko found in a rat trap has been determined by genetic analyses as most likely have been a released captive-bred animal). The extinction of Duvaucel’s gecko on both the main islands, and some offshore islands is attributed to predation by rats, cats and mustelids.
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The whole article is very interesting. Apparently Duvaucel's are pretty catholic in their habits, and are found in trees and on the ground equally.
 
Hix said:
Tuatara are even more boring than Koalas. You should try getting some large varanids for release - that would really increase the visitation to the zoo (until the first child disappears).

:p

Hix
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The LA Zoo did have a Komodo dragon try and eat Sharon Stone's (then) husband. It actually became very popular after that.

I love Komodo dragons, but they are now quite common in American zoos (a good thing). I need to see me a sphenodont.

Chlidonias said:
just to aggravate David, I was weighing and measuring tuatara today. If I had thought about it I would have got some photos for him!
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Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.
 
Hix said:
Tuatara are even more boring than Koalas.
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At least you can spend some time searching a typical exhibit for the tuatara inhabitants, koalas are blatantly obvious.


I asked one of the scientists working on the Maungatautari Duvaucel, and she thinks it is a remnant, based on some unique mtDNA, but others think it is a released captive-bred hybrid between Cook Strait and northern island populations. Research is ongoing - so the tuatara better leave geckos alone for now!
 
zooboy28 said:
At least you can spend some time searching a typical exhibit for the tuatara inhabitants, koalas are blatantly obvious.
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Koalas are cute and all, but tuataras have the virtue of three-eyed, dinosaur-era-surviving megacoolness. Tuataras win.
 
DavidBrown said:
Koalas are cute and all, but tuataras have the virtue of three-eyed, dinosaur-era-surviving megacoolness. Tuataras win.
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Only amongst zoonerds like us! To the general population it's just another lizard. One that people don't want to spend time searching an exhibit for.

And Chlidonias: koalas also move when being fed (if they're awake).

:p

Hix
 
Hix said:
Only amongst zoonerds like us! To the general population it's just another lizard. One that people don't want to spend time searching an exhibit for.
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I tend to find that a lot of people can't even see a tuatara when it is sitting in plain view out in the open. It's really bizarre.
 
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